I am confused by this ad ....
I have heard that COPO means either Central Office Production Order or Central Office Purchase Order but that doesn't really matter as that isn't the confusing part. My understanding was that in 1969, Chevrolet would not sell Camaros with an engine larger than 400 cu in so several dealers got together and order a bunch of Camaros through the COPO "fleet" program. This allowed the dealers to put in a large order for Camaros with 427 engines. I have also heard of COPO Chevelles as this would allow a relatively large volume purchase of 427 Chevelles when the "factory" only offered the 396 as the largest engine.
That being said, IF the above is correct, COPO means "large fleet order" yet I have only ever heard of COPO Chevelles and COPO Camaros. If there is such a thing as a COPO Corvette, shouldn't there be a large number of them too, in order to satisfy the fleet order requirement?
I always assumed an L88 Corvette was simply a car that was available to order directly from a dealer (or maybe specifically from a "performance" dealer who knew how to find the possibly well hidden order code) and the low number of cars built simply reflects the low number of Corvettes ordered with the L88 engine.
If I am correct (and it doesn't appear that I am), how is it possible that a dealer ended up ordering a "fleet of one" L88 Corvette? I may be wrong but I seem to recall reading that a "fleet order" had to be a minimum of 50 cars, which is why several dealers got together to put in a COPO order of 427 Camaros.
What am I missing?
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